The Tide of Times
by namjai
Summary: Torchwood sends Rose and Pete to strike a deal with the parallel world's Van Statten. What dangers will this one be hiding at his base? Meanwhile, Mickey asks Rose to look for a missing member of the Preachers, a friend by the name of Ace.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**_Doctor Who_ belongs to the BBC, not me. I'm just playing.

**Notes: **Many thanks to my lovely Brit-picking beta, **Belphoebe**. She's making sure my language is in line, but I warned her I wasn't learning a whole new set of spelling and punctuation rules, for my own sanity's sake. So all those Z's are my fault, not hers!

**The Tide of Times**

**Chapter 1**

For the third time, Rose Tyler circulated the outer edges of the ballroom – trying to appear casual, but the guards posted at the doors were starting to look at her funny.

Understandable, since it was their faces she had been unobtrusively (she hoped) searching, looking for a woman named Ace, whose photograph Mickey had shown her. But so far Rose had had no luck, and she was ready to give it up.

The guards were mostly male, of course, but it was the way they stood at the doors, in their respectable suits and discreet earpieces, nodding politely to guests, that had surprised Rose. But this was a reception for the hoi-polloi, and pseudo-military garb and barking orders would have been out of place, she realized now – only it was different from what she had anticipated, based on her past experience with the host of this affair: Henry Van Statten.

Or rather, her past experience with his other self, the version of Van Statten in her own universe. This one was new to her.

Her mission for Mickey notwithstanding, Van Statten was Rose's true target, an assignment from Torchwood that had brought her – along with her father – to this expo of cutting-edge technology and to this side event hosted by Van Statten, who was, here as in Rose's universe, a leading businessman in the field.

When Rose had first come to work for Torchwood, about three years ago now, her superiors had thoroughly questioned her on her experiences with the Doctor, to assess all possible alien threats. In the course of telling them about her history with the Daleks, Van Statten's name had caused them to snap to attention. Their own Van Statten was a thorn in Torchwood's side, a constant competitor for alien salvage, for one. He had also been on the wrong side of the Cybermen conflict, perfectly happy to publicize Cybus Industries as a client of Geocomtex until it became impolitic to do so. With the death of John Lumic and the eventual defeat of his Cybermen, Van Statten was in the process of rehabilitating his company's image, and touting for new big-name clients.

That was where Torchwood came in. Rose and Pete Tyler were not in Salt Lake City to investigate Van Statten: They were here to negotiate with him. Rose was chosen because of her personal knowledge of some version of the man; Pete because the society of wealthy business was his element – and Van Statten would be far more likely to accept Pete as a deal-maker than he would a twenty-something, low-level employee of the British government.

Mickey had been less than happy with the company Rose would be keeping. "The Preachers knew Van Statten was collaborating with Cybus. That's why we got one of our own in. I remembered you talking about him once – sometimes I did pay attention to you and him prattling on about all your adventures. When I heard Van Statten was here too, I knew we should look into him. So Ace got in, and sure enough, Van Statten's up to no good."

But Ace – "one of our own" who had met Mickey and Jake in Paris and had joined the fight against the Cybermen – had gone silent. For a time, she had sent them reports of her observations or suspicions, gathered at her job on Van Statten's security force on the same Utah base Rose had once visited. Then, nothing, no word.

"As long as you're going, see if you can find her?" Mickey asked.

He had shown Rose a photo of a woman in her mid-thirties, with brown hair, a broad face and a sweet smile that made her look younger than her years. "Don't let that fool you," Jake laughed. "She's tough."

This evening, Rose had searched the rare female guards' faces – and their name badges for the surname "McShane." But whatever had become of Ace, it did not involve getting out of the underground desert base to a fancy ballroom in Salt Lake City. No travel on her job.

Rose paused in her search for Ace to scan the room for her dad – and spotted him, finally in Van Statten's orbit, after much socializing with hangers-on.

Time for the real business to begin.

She was halfway across the room when she collided with someone, narrowly avoiding spilling her drink on herself, sloshing most of it on the floor – and some on the stranger's shoes.

"Sorry, so sorry!" Rose exclaimed, grabbing a napkin off a table to offer the middle-aged man.

"No, it was my fault, wasn't looking where I was going …" The man didn't sound contrite, merely preoccupied and annoyed. He snatched the proffered napkin out of her hand before he had even looked at Rose's face, and bent down to wipe his shoes, straightened, dropping the napkin on the table, and said with indifferent manners, "Thank you—"

As he looked at Rose for the first time, that second word came out slightly startled, and his annoyance had vanished, replaced by … something Rose couldn't quite pin down. Intense. Not hostile, but far from friendly.

But his next words, as he recovered composure, were pleasant enough. "I was looking for someone and wasn't watching where I was going. Sorry about your drink, but at least Henry Van Statten is paying for it. Would you like another?"

Rose grinned. "With Van Statten picking up the tab?" The man responded with his own smile, a small, condescending one that stopped Rose short, chilling her natural friendliness. "Thanks," she said, "but I was looking for someone too, and…"

"Really? Whom?"

She shouldn't have said that. She wasn't officially looking for anyone. "My dad," she answered. It was true right at this very moment anyway. She pointed over in Pete's direction. "There he is, with Van Statten himself."

The man craned his neck over the crowd, and murmured, "Pete Tyler. I didn't know he was here."

"You know him?"

"Well, in England, who doesn't? 'Trust me on this' – isn't that how it goes?"

They shared an awkward chuckle. Rose could not pinpoint what was provoking a sudden uneasiness, but it could well have been the man's laugh, which seemed not quite real – not faked, but the shadow of what a laugh could be.

But almost as soon as she felt unnerved, she laughed at herself, shook it off, and went on the offensive. A smile that private deserved a little prying.

"So, who were _you_ looking for when you ploughed into me? Maybe I can help."

"I doubt it," he said. Rose was disappointed to see him unperturbed. "I was hoping to see a colleague of mine. She must have decided to stay at home. I think your father is waiting for you." He nodded in Pete's direction, and walked off.

Rose couldn't resist making a face at his back before putting her professional demeanor back on and joining her father.

Van Statten, with an anxious assistant hovering in the background and a blonde hanging onto his arm and his every word, was the same man, Rose could tell right away.

"She's with you?" he said, looking Rose over but speaking to Pete as if she were no more comprehending than a pet. "Nice."

The woman on his arm shifted, grasping that arm subtly tighter with an almost imperceptible lip curl at Rose.

Pete said, "She's my daughter."

This did not seem to mollify the blonde, and Rose made no attempt to hide her amusement. _Yeah right_, she thought, _like you've got such a prize_.

Oblivious or indifferent to his date, Van Statten kept up the leer for a few calculated seconds. Just as Pete opened his mouth to restart the conversation, Van Statten refocused on him as if Rose had never arrived.

"So," he said, "one of Lumic's most public yes-men. How'd you get out of his pocket unscathed?"

"I didn't."

"Oh yeah – I heard about your wife's birthday party," Van Statten said, with no trace of compassion. "Your first wife, that is. But that's not what I meant. I meant unscathed in the public eye. And in the eyes of the law."

"He was never in Lumic's pocket," Rose declared.

"And you got a new wife," Van Statten said. "With a feisty little step-daughter. Not too bad."

Rose went on: "He was only in with Lumic to bring him down. Which he did. He's a hero. Can you say as much?"

"A hero! Is she your PR rep, Tyler? She's good at it."

"She may oversell my role a bit. It was hard not to dirty your hands when Lumic was involved."

"Especially when you were bought out by him." Van Statten was enjoying himself too much to be gracious about that opening for confession Pete had given him. "That's the difference" – at last Van Statten spoke to Rose directly – "between me and your father. I was never under Lumic's thumb. I've always been in charge of my own destiny."

Rose scoffed, forgetting her role, but Pete was there to put it back on track: "Still, you must have lost some business opportunities when Cybus Industries came crashing down around us, eh? We're left to pick up the pieces, make sure that life goes on, that people get the services they expect."

"I'm getting by just fine. I've got plenty of projects that have nothing to do with Cybus Industries."

"It's a shame, though, when you get things underway, projects established…"

"And your client gets himself killed trying to take over the world."

"Exactly. Better to do business with more stable entities."

"Like government contracts?"

"Or related agencies," Pete noted.

Van Statten had the same clenched-teeth smile. "Do you know of any shopping around?"

"We might," Rose answered.

"So you two are the ambassadors. Torchwood, right?" He was so sure of it he didn't wait for confirmation. "Can't say I'm surprised – but you're not the only ones who have approached me. Tell you what – what are your plans for the weekend? You ever been to the Utah desert? It's not much to see, but maybe you English might like a break from the rain and gloom. My lead scientist is English – she likes it there. Well, she likes the state-of-the-art laboratory I set up for her on the base."

Rose guessed such an invitation had never been extended to the blonde, who glowered as Rose said, "Heard there are all kinds of interesting things to see there."

"You have no idea. So why don't you and your dad come along and find out?"

It was settled. Van Statten snapped his fingers at the assistant who had been hovering in the background, and he came scurrying over. "Pete and Rose Tyler – they're going to be visiting the base for a few days. Make the arrangements." Van Statten took his disgruntled date and moved on to other guests. It was clear the Tylers' time with him tonight was done.

The logistics were easily worked out. They would be leaving in the morning on Van Statten's personal zeppelin. And with their mission, if not accomplished, at least put in motion, Rose was now itching to leave, out of the posh ballroom filled with people trying to impress each other, back to the hotel room to pack.

"You go on," Pete said. "I'll stay here a while longer, for appearance's sake."

On her way out, Rose made one more sweep, on the lookout for Mickey's friend. She was not surprised to come up empty-handed again, but she was unsettled to see, off by himself, the man who had bumped into her earlier, now watching her. Her eyes met his, and he realized he had been caught. But he was unabashed, and even raised his glass to her, with his faint echo of a smile.

The best course was to ignore him, Rose decided. She turned away and left him to enjoy his drink alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

By morning Rose had dismissed the strange man as a pathetic stalker -- he had probably bumped into her intentionally. Still, she was grateful she didn't see him in the lobby or in the restaurant when she came down for breakfast. By the time she and Pete were flying high above Utah, she had forgotten the man.

They were not the only passengers. A few Geocomtex employees who had attended the expo were on board the zeppelin as well, and Rose struck up a conversation with one, a young man called Kevin Barrett, a computer tech.

"You live on the base?" Rose asked him.

"Well, it's too much of a commute from anywhere else. I mean, there's Gold Hill nearby, and some of my coworkers live there, but it's a tiny town, and doesn't really have enough places to rent. It's not so bad on the base." He shrugged.

"I don't think I'd want to live at work, be there all the time." _Especially not that place_, Rose thought – an underground bunker with its own pretend military running all over, and Van Statten as top dog.

"There's a bar in Gold Hill where we hang out. And I usually make it to Salt Lake City once a month."

He sounded to Rose like he was saying these things to keep himself convinced his was a great life – or maybe complaining with coworkers nearby was a bad idea. Feeling an urge to improve his spirits, she said, "You get to work with all this alien stuff, right? Must be interesting."

"Mr. Van Statten keeps a lot of it under lock and key. But you'll probably get to see his museum." Kevin leaned in. "To be honest, that's all the non-classified finds – meaning, it's all pretty useless. But he loves showing it off to guests, and even if there's nothing there too earth-shattering, it's still impressive. You're in for a treat."

* * *

Sure enough, for the second time, Rose found herself touring a museum of alien artifacts owned by Henry Van Statten. But this time she was an invited guest, not an intruder setting off alarms. The collection was smaller, but otherwise, much of it looked familiar from Rose's memory of the other place: meteor rocks, unidentified dead technology, even a Slitheen's arm. No Cyberman head, but that was no surprise: Here, Cybermen were all too earthbound.

"I outbid your bosses for some of these prizes," Van Statten told Rose.

"And for more than just this, I'm sure."

"What makes you think that?" He was as smug as ever.

"We know where your technological innovations have come from. And you know we know. Let's not pretend."

"Okay, you're right. It makes it all the sweeter to have you guys come begging to me."

Pete didn't take the opening for "begging," for the moment, but played the genial guest. "What's that thing down there?" he asked, directing Van Statten's attention to the stuffed head of a bug-eyed alien farther down the corridor.

As the two men moved on, Rose lingered, pretending to be interested in a pile of glittering metal that she was sure the Doctor would have dismissed as rubbish. She rounded its display case until she was out of Van Statten's sight.

Out of her jacket pocket, Rose slipped an energy detector, courtesy of Torchwood. The readings were showing next to nothing. Not even enough to account for the electrical lights of the display cases. Rose slapped the detector's side and muttered, "Either this is malfunctioning, or there is one hell of a dampening field on this place."

"Oi! What are you doing here?"

A uniformed guard was striding toward her from the side aisle, and Rose slipped the Torchwood device back into her pocket. Only then did she register that the guard was female, her accent English … This was Ace -- Rose recognized her from the photo, even if now the woman was displaying a scowl instead of that warm smile. If doubt were possible, the guard's name badge erased it: McShane.

Rose couldn't say anything outright, not without risking Ace's cover. So she would lay down some hints.

"Uh, hi! I'm with Mr. Van Statten – he's giving a tour to me and my dad, Pete Tyler." Rose leaned out into the main corridor. "They're down there -- moved on without me! I just got caught up in looking at this … stuff." Ace frowned as Rose gestured to the pile of metal junk. "Great, isn't it? It's supposed to be from space. My friend Mickey, he was so jealous I was coming here. He loves this sort of stuff. Wants me to tell him all about it. Everything I see. So I was, you know, taking a closer look."

Ace showed no trace of reaction to Mickey's name. "Move along then. If Mr. Van Statten wanted you to get a closer look, I'm sure he would —"

Ace stopped at the sight of Van Statten returning with Pete from the end of the hall.

"Rose!" Pete called. "We're done in here."

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Rose turned to Ace. "Sorry to have bothered you. Nice meeting you."

Ace did not answer as Rose left her behind in the museum. But she was alive, and still an employee in good standing. There was good news for Mickey and Jake. And surely Ace had honed in on Mickey's name and understood. Rose found herself wishing she had dropped Jake's name too, to be that much surer. Couldn't be helped now.

Van Statten seemed to accept Rose's excuse for lagging behind – a little raving about his "fantastic" collection did the trick. He led them out of the museum and into a lift, where he keyed in a destination and they began to ascend.

"Time to get down to business. Come meet my lead scientist on the Anasazi Project."

"Anasazi?" Pete inquired.

"Came up with the name myself. We used some materials salvaged near some Anasazi Indian ruins in Utah. I liked the sound of it."

They let out on a floor with hallways of the same concrete blocks and exposed pipes that characterized all these lower floors. But the large room they entered was considerably brighter – white, sleek and well-lit. A self-assured, gray-haired woman in a lab coat stepped forward. "Who are these people?" she asked, lacking any of the obsequiousness of most of Van Statten's employees.

Employees like Kevin Barrett, for instance: Rose spotted the young man she had met on the zeppelin. He had been concentrating on a computer screen, and looked up vaguely when he heard someone enter — then hopped to his feet at the sight of his boss.

The boss took no notice of him, instead answering the woman: "Pete Tyler and his daughter, Rose. From Torchwood – you've heard of it?" Van Statten didn't wait for an answer – it was clear she had. "This is the head of the Anasazi Project, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw."

Dr. Shaw looked skeptical. "They're not from Torchwood's science division, I take it?"

"No, more like the PR division."

Rose bristled. "Bit more than that."

Dr. Shaw turned back to her equipment. "Why are they here?"

"Why do you think?" Van Statten said. "To get a piece of the project for Torchwood."

Pete said with a smile, "We're hoping to strike up a partnership with Mr. Van Statten. And you."

"You needn't worry about me. I doubt it will be my decision to make."

"No, it won't," Van Statten said, "but you could give them that report on the project I told you to get ready. Do you have it?"

"Of course," Dr. Shaw said, and even though she had hardly been friendly to the guests, Rose found herself liking the woman for her indifference to Van Statten's bluster. "It would be ready to go," Dr. Shaw explained, "but for some technical difficulties with the computer, which Mr. Barrett is resolving."

"Mr. Barrett" was still standing at attention by the computer.

"Well," Van Statten demanded, "are you working on it?"

"Right, yes, sir." Kevin scrambled back to his seat.

"Ever since he added that latest security protocol to the containment program, the thing's been tetchy," Dr. Shaw said.

Kevin turned red and tapped furiously on his keyboard, while Van Statten glowered.

"So," Rose said to Dr. Shaw, "how do you come to work for Mr. Van Statten?"

"He recruited me."

Van Statten completed that thought: "I was lucky to get her around the time I struck a deal with Lumic. She has a knack for working out the most bizarre technologies and turning them into something useful -- I'm surprised you guys never snatched her up. As for the work we did for Lumic, you can tell Torchwood that the power we used to provide to Cybus Industries is a fraction of what we can provide now. We've been busy refining the system to peak efficiency. Shaw calls our business with Lumic a mistake – she was always trying to talk me out of it. But I prefer to think of the whole thing as a testing ground. Lumic was our guinea pig – who didn't always get the best of it."

Dr. Shaw said, "It's true, there was that incident at the Cybus factory in Houston. I hadn't worked out the power fluctuations yet, and … well, you should know what happened there."

Rose didn't know what had happened in Houston, but Pete was astonished: "Houston was your doing?"

"You bet it was," Van Statten preened, but Dr. Shaw derailed that.

"Don't let him give you the idea that it was deliberate sabotage. Because it wasn't. I was doing my job as carefully as I could, but Lumic wanted to step up his operations exponentially, and insisted on taking advantage of the power supply sooner rather than later."

"But it's been more than just 'refining the system,' right?" Pete said. "The Anasazi ruins – Torchwood knows something crashed here, two years ago, right in your lap. And you got the salvage."

And there was nothing Torchwood, or UNIT, or any American agencies could do about it, Pete had told Rose. Van Statten's reach may have been more limited than it was in Rose's world, but here the state of Utah was unquestionably his domain.

Pete continued as Van Statten kept a noncommittal expression. "Lumic was a client of the Anasazi Project – the name gives it away. He was already dead by the time of the Anasazi crash. So what is it? What's the new power source?"

"Come on," Van Statten said. "I can't give everything away."

"But this time _we'd_ be the guinea pigs. I'm not sure Torchwood can agree to that without seeing what you salvaged."

Dr. Shaw broke in. "Such an inspection may happen at a later stage, but it hardly seems necessary now, Mr. Tyler. With the greatest respect, you and your daughter would not be qualified to evaluate what you see."

Kevin finally stood up from his computer, and came over holding a tiny data slip, which he handed to Van Statten, who in turn held it out to Pete.

Rose took it. "Thanks," she said a grin.

Van Statten looked as though his patience was wearing thin. "That's got all the specifications, the schematics, delivery capabilities, you name it. And that's all you get to know. Call it trade secrets. Take what you can get, take it back to your bosses, but if you, or they, spread it further than that, I'll know. The deal will be off and you'll be lucky if that's the worst that happens to you."

"We will respect confidentiality, Van Statten," said Pete. "I'm sure you'll do the same for us." He waved his arm toward a bank of screens high along a wall, and changed the subject. "What are we looking at here?"

"Monitoring the main outposts of the Anasazi Project, both here and off-base."

The screens blinked between dark rooms with bored guards standing about – nothing enlightening at all. Rose guessed the scenes would be quite different if there weren't outsiders in the room.

Pete asked, "You've got operations off-base?"

"Just the screen on the left there. The converter station. It's unmanned except for guards."

"Where is it?"

"A few miles from here, in the desert."

Rose asked, "Can we go there?"

Again, it was Dr. Shaw who answered. "No. I must insist. There is quite delicate equipment there. When Torchwood sends out scientific advisers, as I'm sure it will if this progresses, why then, arrangements may be made."

"Fair enough," Pete said.

Rose looked at the left-hand screen. While it showed more than guards, she had to admit it still told her nothing. She could make out panels of blinking lights, screens with readouts of undoubtedly incomprehensible figures. If the Doctor were here …

She could imagine them sneaking across the desert, somehow getting past those guards, and with the briefest of inspections, a flick of the sonic screwdriver, he would know what was going on. He would be fascinated, perhaps – marvel at the setup and proclaim it brilliant. Or maybe pronounce it antiquated rubbish. Rose had no way of knowing. She had no sonic screwdriver; she had only her untrained human wits. And a piece of Torchwood tech that could take readings to carry back to the brains in London … but would the risk be worth it? Then there was the matter that she couldn't even get readings here – at least not down in the museum. Would that outpost be any different?

Dr. Shaw was watching. There'd be no attempting to scan for anything in her territory, that was certain. Rose shook herself from staring at the screens, and her eyes landed on Dr. Shaw's desk. Among papers and instruments it held but one personal artifact: a photo of a man in uniform, taken decades ago, by the look of it.

"That's a UNIT insignia, isn't it?" Rose asked.

Dr. Shaw nodded. "He was my colleague there."

"You worked for UNIT? Why not approach them with this business?"

"It's Van Statten's decision, not mine. However, in my experience, UNIT does not have the same ambitions with regard to developing alien technology as Torchwood has."

"Does your friend" – Rose indicated the man in the photo – "still work for them?"

Dr. Shaw did not look at Rose as she replied with a simple, dignified statement: "He is dead."

"I'm so sorry."

"It happened a long time ago, in the line of duty."

Rose studied the photo, of a serious-looking man with dark hair and moustache. The Doctor had worked with the UNIT of her own universe, she knew, but he had never mentioned anyone there by name. Had he known this man's counterpart? Had that one been killed too?

"What was his name?" Rose asked.

"Brigadier Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart."

A still-foolish part of Rose's heart vowed that she would ask the Doctor about the Brigadier one day. Committing the name to memory, she said to Dr. Shaw, "They do good work at UNIT. Important work."

She met Dr. Shaw's eyes, and the older woman seemed to understand what Rose was trying to say.

"Thank you. Alastair believed in it."

Van Statten and Pete had been looking at the other screens. Coming back to the matter at hand, Rose assumed her dad would fill her in on whatever Van Statten was going on about, if it was anything important. Now the two men wandered back over to Rose and Dr. Shaw.

"Time to let Shaw get back to work. I'll have some guards show you to your rooms. Upper level – I think you'll find them comfortable. Give you time to settle in, and you can meet me for dinner at nineteen hundred hours."

* * *

The Tylers' luggage had already been brought to their adjoining rooms, which were indeed in an incongruously posh enclave of the concrete and steel world of Van Statten's base. Rose could only assume not all employees were put up in such luxury.

Pete came over to Rose's room soon after their escort had left them. He shut the door behind him.

"Someone left something for you in my room." He pulled an envelope from his breast pocket. It was sealed, with "Rose Tyler" written on it in blotchy ballpoint pen. "Found it slipped under my door. I don't think the guard noticed."

Rose ripped it open, and it contained a single slip of paper with the words:

_Outside Blue Moon Cantina in Gold Hill_

_9 o'clock tonight_

It had to be Ace, right? Rose explained in low tones about the encounter in the museum. "I've got to get away to see her."

They arrived early for dinner, Rose with a simple plan that she hoped wouldn't seem suspicious. As they walked into the dining room, she was saying, loudly enough for Van Statten to catch it: "It's not that I don't want to hang out with you, Dad, every evening in America, but…"

"You're going a little stir-crazy?"

"A bit, yeah. That bloke Kevin Barrett talked about this bar in the nearest town – what's it called?"

"The town? Gold Hill," Van Statten said.

"Right. Thought I'd go out and relax, have a drink, get a little local color."

During this exchange, Van Statten had a way about him that was patronizing and knowing enough to make Rose nervous, but then he grinned and said, "Tell you what – I'll get Barrett to drive you out there. If he was talking about Blue Moon Cantina, which he has to be, because that's all there is, its main clientele is my staff, so I don't know how 'local' the color will be, but you should go on, have a good time."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Kevin was waiting for Rose in the car park.

"Sorry about this," she said as they got into the car. "When I said I wanted to get out, I didn't expect Van Statten would make you give up your evening."

"Don't worry about it. It's not an unbearable duty, you know. It's good to get off the base, and in good company."

Soon they were speeding across the desert, while Rose coaxed Kevin into talking about his job again. "I've been here seven years," he told her. "Straight out of school, I got recruited."

"He combs the world for geniuses, that's what I heard."

"Oh, I don't know if I'm a genius. I had some specialty in security systems, and I guess that's what they were looking for. Right place at the right time, and all that."

Rose remembered Adam, and Kevin's humility was appealing, though probably misplaced. The Van Statten in her world had been a computer genius himself. This one she was not so sure of, but he had still worked his way into the position of being able to afford the best.

"So you were on board when they were doing business with Lumic?"

Kevin grimaced. "Yeah. I swear, I didn't know. Nobody knew what he was doing, why he needed the energy supply from us … Maybe Mr. Van Statten knew. I'm not sure. I just know that I was clueless."

"What about Dr. Shaw?"

"I don't think so. She didn't like Lumic, that was for sure, but I don't think she knew about the Cybermen. Maybe she did and that's why she hated him."

"And now it's this Anasazi Project. You've been around since the start for that, yeah?"

"Yeah, but…" He looked apologetic. "I'm not sure I'm supposed to talk about it with you."

"Not asking for state secrets," Rose cajoled. "After all, Torchwood already knows about the crash near the ruins. I was just wondering if you were here for it."

"No," he laughed. "Can you believe it? Something falls to Earth so close to where I work, and with my luck, I was visiting my parents in Minnesota for Thanksgiving. They called me -- work is always calling when you're supposedly on vacation, but this time, I was on the network for over twenty-four hours, refining the security containment. They sent out a zeppelin to get me and take me back."

"The security containment – is that why I can't get a signal for my phone, for anything, on the base?"

Kevin was silent. He should not have said anything. "It's the desert," he finally said. "Hard to get a signal this far out."

Rose decided to let him go on that evasion. The truth was clear enough, and something more interesting had hit her: "Hang on. _Refining_ the containment? You were expecting this?"

"No! It was something we already had in place. Dr. Shaw was working on all kinds of other alien-derived power sources before Anasazi. And Van Statten's, you know … paranoid." He tried to distract her: "Look out your window over there. You can just make out the converter station."

She could. The buildings were low, but visible, with a few lights blinking in the dusk.

"We're just about ten minutes away from town," he told her.

It was nearing completely dark by the time they stepped out of the car in front of the Blue Moon Cantina, which proved to be a sparsely populated place smelling of stale cigarette smoke and beer, with pool tables and country music blaring. They found a seat at a sticky table, and Rose checked her watch: little more than an hour before she needed to excuse herself and go meet Ace. She was relieved when two employees from the base hailed Kevin and joined them. It would be much easier to slip away than if she were Kevin's only company.

A pool game started, which Rose watched from the sidelines, cheering Kevin on, nursing a beer, until it was close enough to the appointed time. She hopped down from the barstool on which she had been perched. With a grin and a wave to excuse herself, she headed towards the lit "Restrooms" sign in the back. But once in the narrow, grimy hallway, she passed by the lavatories, and out a door into the still, hot night.

She waited alone with the rubbish bins, listening to the voices and music from the bar. She was beginning to consider giving up when her solitude was interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle, which rounded a corner into the bar's back lot and pulled up in front of her. From the backseat handlebar, the cyclist detached a helmet and held it out to Rose.

It was Ace's voice that spoke through her own helmet. "Hop on. Let's go for a ride."

* * *

She took the highway for a short while, leaving the town behind, then turned off a side road – barely a road – into the wilderness.

When she slowed and stopped and switched off the motorcycle, silence and darkness enveloped them. The town was the faintest glow on one horizon, and Van Statten's base a slightly brighter one on another. The lights of the converter station that Rose had seen from the car earlier were lost.

Ace took off her helmet and pushed back her chin-length brown hair. She scanned the horizon in all directions, and once Rose's eyes grew accustomed, the moon and startling expanse of stars lit the landscape.

Apparently satisfied they were alone, Ace settled on the ground, cross-legged. "All right – you claim to know Mickey?"

"And Jake." Rose joined Ace on the desert floor. "When they heard I was coming here, they were desperate for me to find you. They haven't heard a word, for ages, they said. They thought maybe you'd been found out, been dumped somewhere with your memory wiped, or worse."

"Or worse? What would be worse than that?"

"Getting killed?"

"Van Statten doesn't work that way – I doubt he'd care if any of us got killed, but he's not going to do it on purpose. I suppose he thinks he's being more moral, turning you into an amnesiac zombie. But obviously, it hasn't happened to me, never will. Go home and tell Mickey and Jake not to be worrywarts. I'm undercover, I can't go checking in once a week."

"I think they'd be happy with once a month."

Ace only shrugged.

"Now that I'm here," Rose continued, "I can report back to them anything you want me to."

"Yeah, the thing is, I know Mickey and I know Jake. But I don't know you. And I don't know if I can trust you."

Rose was taken aback. "Why not? I'm here from Mickey. And Jake. My dad's supported the Preachers since before you even met them."

"You say you're here to look for me, but that's true, is it? You and your dad are here for Torchwood, and what I know, I'm not sharing with them."

"You know that Mickey and Jake have done work for Torchwood?"

"Like I said, I trust Mickey and Jake. You and your dad? I don't know whether I can."

"We're on the same side!"

Ace scoffed. "What I've seen here is that Van Statten get his hands on alien technology and exploits it. From what the Preachers learned about Torchwood, I don't see the difference."

"Van Statten uses that stuff with no sense of responsibility, no conscience, for nothing other than to make money."

"And Torchwood's all noble and pure, is that what you're going to tell me?"

"Torchwood has _changed_. Since the People's Republic was established, it's become public, accountable – and certainly with better ethical standards than Van Statten's."

"Oh, well, those are high standards."

"Maybe I set my personal standards higher than Torchwood's too."

"So you would keep what I tell you to yourself – you wouldn't tell your bosses?"

"I can't promise you that. I just can't. If I thought Torchwood was best equipped to deal with whatever's going on here…"

"But they don't want to 'deal' with it. Torchwood wants to become Van Statten's paying customer. That can't happen."

"Yes, we are here to negotiate with him -- unless you give me reason not to. I have no way of knowing."

"And I have no way of knowing if you're the person to make that call."

Rose pulled out her phone and held it out. "Do you want to call Mickey? Or Jake? They will vouch for me."

"I want _you_ to tell me why I should trust you. Start by telling me why you're even working for Torchwood."

Rose looked up, thinking about her answer. The stars were so vivid in the desert, surrounding them, so close she could fall up into them if gravity were not so relentless. She continued to study them as she spoke: "There was this man. I traveled with him. Traveled through space and time." She paused for Ace's expressions of disbelief, but they did not come. "You believe me?"

"I believed Mickey, eventually, when he told me that he came from a parallel Earth. Or rather, Jake told me one night in Paris with too much wine, and Mickey later confirmed it while sober. So you come from this other Earth too?"

"Yeah."

"And this man…"

"He came from … everywhere. It was his ship that got Mickey here. Me, it was more an accident. Happened at my Earth's Torchwood, actually. So he's there, and I'm here, and he can't come back for me."

"Are you working at Torchwood to get back?"

"No – it's not possible. And it's too dangerous even if I could find a way."

"So why are you working there?"

"Because my travels gave me some expertise in alien life. And I also learned that you have to take what you know, whatever you have, and fight for what's right. I know Torchwood's not perfect. It's better than you think, though. And better than the Torchwood in my world. When we ran into them there -- my friend, he wasn't human, and his ship was made on his planet, and Torchwood tried to confiscate both of them."

"The ship _and_ your friend?"

"Yes."

"That's what I'm saying: How can you justify working for an organization like that?"

"I'm not working for _that_ Torchwood."

"You think ours wouldn't do the same?" Ace asked.

"Not from what I've seen. They do a lot of good, using the technology they acquire for the good of humanity."

"Taking your friend prisoner, using him for God knows what – that could be for the 'good of humanity.' He's not human, what does he matter? And Lumic was always on about the good of humanity, wasn't he?"

Rose threw up her hands. "There's nothing I can say to convince you! You've made up your mind about me, about Torchwood, and that's it. We're wasting our time out here."

"If your friend walked into Torchwood tomorrow, would you stand behind your bosses if they claimed him as property?"

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"Because he's your friend?"

"No, because he's a thinking, sentient being who has done no harm to anyone! I didn't sign up to stop thinking for myself, to do anything I was told no matter how immoral."

Ace nodded. "Now that's good to hear."

But if it was enough to earn Ace's trust, she didn't start spilling her information just then. They sat in silence, looking up at the sky, until Ace spoke again.

"You know, when I was a teenager, I used to imagine I'd be whisked out of my room, into time and space. Didn't happen. I'm still here." Her smile was rueful, but all the same, she was finally smiling.

"It was amazing out there," Rose said.

"Do you miss it?"

"More than anything. Except for my friend – I miss him more." After another silence, she ventured: "The power source Van Statten's using, the reason you're so worried about Torchwood – it's something alive, isn't it?"

"I don't know for certain," Ace sighed, "but … yeah, that's what I think. I haven't seen anything -- I've guarded the outer room, but no one gets inside the core except for Van Statten and Dr. Shaw. Never heard anything coming from the inner room -- it's always dead silent down there. Eerie. But once I overheard Dr. Shaw talking to Van Statten, and two words caught my attention: 'Vital signs.' That's all. But it started to eat at me. More and more I started to think it could only mean one thing."

"Listen, there was a Van Statten in my world too. He got his hands on a living creature, and if this thing is the same, it's bad. As bad as it can get. Have you heard them say the word 'Dalek'? Or – what was it Van Statten called it – a 'metaltron'?"

I don't remember hearing anything like that. It really was a slip for Dr. Shaw to let me hear what I did. What happens if it is another one of these … which is it?"

"Daleks. To be honest – that is a case where we may have to call in Torchwood. And UNIT, and … anyone else we can."

If Ace was disgruntled at the possibility, she didn't voice her objections. "The question is, what do we do now?" she asked. "I've been on my own, not able to do much more than keep an eye on things. If you're here to help, we've got to make a move while you're here."

"The first thing is to figure out what they have down there. But not only is that core room locked down and guarded, but there's that containment field. I can't get a reading through the thing, and if it's blocking outgoing signals too -- we have to have the option open to call for help."

"You can't call out for help in that place," Ace confirmed. "But Mickey's not a bad hand at getting past that kind of stuff."

A thought struck Rose. "How well do you know Kevin Barrett?"

Ace chuckled. "I think he's got a bit of a crush on me."

"Even better. I met him on the zeppelin, saw him in the lab, and he's the one who drove me out to Gold Hill. He doesn't seem too happy."

"He's not. But he's not the type to do anything about it. And then one gung-ho speech from Van Statten can buck up his spirits for a little bit, until the grind gets to him again. He doesn't have much of a backbone on his own. But you know what? With a little convincing, he might rely on ours."

* * *

Rose had been gone over an hour when she returned to the bar, making a casual entrance, with Ace following behind. Kevin, whose face was flushed with drink, was panicked when he saw Rose – "Where have you been?" – then noticeably pleased to see Ace, who seemed to be right about the crush.

"I headed out for a breath of fresh air, when Ace showed up on her bike."

"It was great to see someone from home," Ace interjected.

"And she offered to show me some of the desert from the motorcycle – said it was the best way. And it was fantastic. You were having fun with your friends, and I didn't think you'd mind." A glance around showed Rose those friends had deserted him, gone or just drifted away to other tables in the bar. "I'm sorry."

"I was worried. I'm supposed to be looking after you."

"But she's all right, Kevin," Ace said. "I'm sorry I took her away. Let me make it up to you. I'll buy you a drink."

"But I have to drive Rose back."

"You're already past that, I think. I'll leave my motorcycle here and drive you and Rose back to the base. They know me here; they'll keep the bike for me until I can get back. Right, Amber?"

The waitress who had appeared at the table during Ace's offer grinned. "Do I get to ride it?"

"No, you can't," Ace said with mock indignation. "Just tell Joe I'm parking it out back for a day or two. And bring a water for me, another of whatever Kevin's been having, and whatever Rose wants, please. This round's on me."

The trick was to keep him relaxed, but not so drunk as to be useless.

"If you ask me," Ace told him, "you're too good for Van Statten. Not just the fact they say you're a computer genius who could work for any company, anywhere. But you're too good a person."

"I don't feel like a good person anymore."

"I know. And me. We're all compromised. But if you get a chance to do something to make it better … you have to grab it when it comes along. That's why Rose and Pete are here."

She let that hang there, untethered to a suggestion of concrete action.

A little later, Kevin said, "I don't know that I could do anything. It's just so hopeless. We provided power to build Cybermen. People have _died_."

"Then help us make it right. Put a stop to it before more harm can be done," Ace whispered. "I'm going to pay the bill, then we're going to go. But before we get in the car, I want to ask for your help. All I ask is if you can't do it, just don't tell another soul what we asked."

"I won't say anything," he said. "Tell me how I can help."

Back in the desert, Rose had called Mickey, just before she and Ace had returned to the cantina. Now she called again, and this time he was waiting by the phone. He was handed to Kevin, who was tipsy enough to be courageous, enough to be convinced that the right thing to do was to tell Van Statten's security codes to a stranger half a world away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Morning came, and Rose's first task was to get herself in place, along with Pete, by the appointed time. Ace would be on guard in the outer room of the power chamber. Mickey would be in London, ready beside his computer. Kevin was not part of the plan from this point forward, and Rose hoped he'd stay far away -- the less complication, the better.

She and her dad needed to get back to the laboratory, with its bank of monitors looking in on the outer room and perhaps further in; to the degree they would be able to control anything, the means to do it were there. After her return last night, she had explained it all to Pete, and in the morning, he got them where they needed to be: by simply asking.

"We've had a chance to analyze the schematics," Pete said. "Superficially of course, but we'd like to talk to Dr. Shaw again."

"No problem," Van Statten said from the screen communicator. "I'll send an escort."

By the time the guard showed Rose and Pete into the lab once more, Van Statten was waiting there. Rose was relieved to see no Kevin.

Dr. Shaw did not even look up from her work -- she seemed mildly put out by the disturbance. She had no idea just how much more she would be disturbed, if all went according to plan.

The plan … It seemed reasonable last night, but the thought that Ace might open that door, a lone human, and come face-to-face with a Dalek or some other unknown horror, now it seemed foolhardy, no matter Ace's confidence. She hadn't fully understood what she might be up against, had she?

Too late now. Rose couldn't reach Ace, she couldn't reach Mickey -- and they were the ones who would set this whole thing in motion. Rose could only stand by and wait.

"So," Van Statten said, "Miss Tyler here sent the schematics to Torchwood. Don't play dumb -- why else would you leave the base last night? To have a beer in a small town dive bar? Sure, I played along, but I'm not stupid."

"You got me," Rose admitted. She had indeed sent the schematics -- to Mickey. Let Van Statten believe what he would. It was obvious and harmless: Why wouldn't she send it to her bosses, the potential buyers?

Pete picked up the lie and carried it forward. "She had to get out. It's hard to keep in contact with our superiors here. Can't get a signal."

"Of course not," Dr. Shaw interjected. "That's a side effect of our containment field."

"And why is such a containment field necessary?"

"I was concerned from the start about the stability of the power source and the effects on the staff and the immediate environment. Containment was the first thing I established, over Mr. Van Statten's objections. He was rather more anxious to start production before assuring safety."

"So, what … the energy is radioactive?" Rose asked.

"There are many dangers in dealing with alien technology. I would expect a Torchwood employee to know that."

Rose glanced at a clock mounted on one of the lab's bright walls. Ten minutes until Mickey brought down that containment, unleashing … what?

Neither Van Statten nor Dr. Shaw paid attention to the monitors, Van Statten with his back to them, and Dr. Shaw engrossed in her work. But with her own full view, Rose saw Ace engage in some earnest conversation with her fellow guard, who soon nodded and, on either her order or suggestion, left the room. Ace briefly leaned out the door, still talking, and then ducked back inside and locked her coworker out. She was now alone, according to plan. Rose tried to return her attention to Van Statten, who was blathering to Pete about Geocomtex's "proven track record" of powering Cybus Industries.

And it was time. Past time. One minute … two. Rose could feel the tension behind her dad's smile; she wasn't sure if Van Statten noticed. Mickey would have begun -- who knew how long it would take? On the screen, Ace was pacing, then caught herself. How would they even know when something happened?

Something happened: a beeping from a console.

Van Statten frowned at the distraction from his own voice, but with the briefest inspection, Dr. Shaw was seized with alarm.

"The containment … it's collapsed."

"What the hell?" Van Statten spluttered, then barked: "Do something!"

Dr. Shaw already was, searching on the computer for the cause. Van Statten shouldered her out of the way.

"It's gotta be a security breach. Get Barrett up here!" He turned to see no one following his orders, just Dr. Shaw glaring, and Rose and Pete feigning confusion.

To the door Van Statten strode, and flung it open to yell his order at a guard. When he turned back inside, the monitor caught his eye at last: There was Ace, attempting to open the inner door.

"Hey! You!"

Ace didn't look up, of course. Van Statten found the comm system and opened a line.

"You!" he repeated. This time Ace heard him, and jumped at his voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he said.

Searching for a camera to face and finding it as she spoke, Ace answered, "Mr. Van Statten, sir. I heard a strange noise coming from the inner room. I was checking it out."

"You are not cleared to do that, do you hear me? I'll send someone qualified. Stay put." To Dr. Shaw he said, "Go check it out," and he returned his full concentration to the computer console.

Dr. Shaw took this chance to do something more than watch irritably as Van Statten mucked up her computer. She left, brushing past a terrified Kevin, who got yanked in by the guard who had fetched him, and then…

A sudden melee: Pete was in front of Kevin, colliding with him in a way that looked accidental -- as if Pete were trying to pursue Dr. Shaw. But he pushed Kevin into the startled guard, and as soon as Rose saw her dad get his hands on the guard's gun, she joined in the tussle. They shoved the guard and Kevin out into the corridor, onto the floor, slammed the door shut and locked it, all by the time Van Statten stood from his chair. He moved no farther when he saw the gun Pete pointed at him.

His glance back to the console told Rose he now understood they were behind the containment collapse. "Torchwood. I should never have trusted you guys. You're not getting out of here alive, you know."

"Out of the way," Pete said, and Rose, who was dialing up Mickey on her phone, took Van Statten's place at the console.

She grinned at her dad. "Look at you, action man."

Pete gave a modest shrug. "You learn a few things fighting Cybermen."

"Mickey!" Rose cried. He had answered the line. "You did it; the containment's down."

"Yeah, I could tell. You won't believe the readings coming out of that place now. If Torchwood's picked them up, they're going nuts."

"Is it dangerous?"

"I don't know. It's alien, I think, but other than that…"

"Judging from the way Van Statten is not panicking -- he's just sitting here, plotting ways to ruin us -- I think we're safe for now."

"He's letting you talk to me?"

"Dad's got him at gunpoint. Listen, Mickey, we've got these monitors to the outer room -- but not inside, where the power source is. Can you get us a look in there before Ace goes in?"

"I can try."

Ace called out, "Rose! What's going on?"

"We've got control of the lab. Mickey's trying to get us a look into that room."

"Just get him to unlock the door."

"We don't know what's in there."

"Maybe, but I know what's outside in the hallway, and I'm not going to be alone in _here_ for long."

Across the line, Rose noticed muffled yelling and banging in the background and understood. "Mickey…"

"Yeah, I'm patched in. I heard. Hey, Ace -- good to hear your voice."

"And you. Gonna help me?"

"Hold on …" And then: "Got it!"

But Ace didn't rush in. "Mickey, it's still locked."

"Let me try again … uh oh. As soon as I unlock it, it locks up again. I got the code but -- I think there's someone else patched in."

The realization hit Rose: "Kevin." Who else could do it? The boy had lost his nerve, caved into pressure.

"Look, whatever," Ace said. "Keep trying, and I'll get this door open before it re-locks."

It took three tries, but finally, Ace yanked on the handle at just the right time, beating the re-lock just as three guards broke into the outer room and ran over -- to have Ace slam the inner door in their faces.

Rose flinched at the deafening sound of two or three gunshots -- not coming from the guards, but from inside, where she had no view.

"What happened? Who's shooting?" Could Ace even still hear the comm in that room? Was she alive to hear?

She was. "That was me. I blew out the lock. Er, I think I'm stuck in here, but they can't get in either. And whoever was fighting Mickey over the lock, there's nothing they can do about it now."

"What do you see?"

"Dark, mostly. Blinking lights … Ow! Hit my shin."

"Mickey, can we look in there?"

"Working on it. Bloody hell! Look at your monitors."

They had all gone blank. "That our friend?" Rose asked.

"He's really out to play hell with us."

"Good," Van Statten said. "I do have _some_ loyal employees."

Ace was still audible, muttering to herself. "Shoulda brought a torch, stupid."

"Hang on," Mickey said. "I can get you lights. There you go."

A slight buzz could now be heard from Ace's end, and Rose heard her gasp.

"It's not one of your Daleks," she whispered. "It's a woman."

A stunned silence, and then Mickey said, "I got the monitors coming up."

They sprung to life again, with different views of a new room, and there was Ace, facing a complicated mass of cables and machinery. In the dim light, Rose could just make out a human-shaped figure in the middle of it all.

"It's not what you think," Van Statten said. He was still held under the guard of Pete, who was distracted by the screens.

"Oh yeah?" Rose retorted. "It's exactly what I think."

"It's not human. It's just alien technology."

Rose turned her back on him. "Ace, do you see a way to disconnect her?"

"Not yet. Still wish I had a torch."

"Mickey, anything you can do?"

"I'm looking, but that guy's still blocking me at every turn."

"I think Kevin cracked, Ace."

"Could be. He's not exactly the most strong-willed…" Ace gasped again. "Her eyes opened!"

"She's conscious?" Rose exclaimed.

"What?" Van Statten said. "Since when?"

Ace was speaking gently: "Can you hear me? Do you understand? I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Ha!" Mickey said. "He let his guard down, and I got through. All his tricks just showed me where to look. Ace, there's a computer behind you to your left. Disable that, and --"

"Rose Tyler."

An unfamiliar male voice, strong and clipped, had interrupted Mickey. Pete and Van Statten started as well as Rose.

"Stop this," the voice said. "Stop what you're doing now."

"Who are you and why should I listen to you?" Rose asked.

"We've met. I'm hurt you don't recognize me. I was looking for Dr. Shaw, you were looking for your father -- or so you said -- when you spilled a drink on my shoes and we struck up a pleasant conversation."

For all Rose had heard it only once, she did know that voice. "In the ballroom, in Salt Lake City."

"Exactly."

"So you're involved in this. You did seem like a creep, and what a surprise -- you turn out to be outright evil."

If Rose knew the man, the expression on Van Statten's face showed he clearly did not, and was losing patience. "I demand to know what's going on! Who is this guy?"

"Imbecile," the voice snapped. "Shut up."

Until that point, Van Statten had maintained some degree of cool, even held at gunpoint. Now rage overtook him. "I am Henry Van Statten, and--"

"And you are nothing. You are a puppet. You're not in control of this project, you never have been." In the man's voice, Rose could hear the contemptuous smile as he added, "You're not even in control of that room. That person would be Rose Tyler, and I will only speak with her."

Rose resisted feeling flattered. "All right, it's me. What do you want?"

"I want you to stop what you're doing. Leave it be."

"Not a chance."

"You don't know the forces you're letting loose."

"Save it. We've already heard it, but Mickey took that containment field down and nothing happened."

"The containment field served other purposes. But dismantle that set-up in the smallest way and you will effect a cascade that will, within a half hour, trigger an implosion of that room. Possibly the entire base."

"How do you know?"

"Because I designed it that way."

"You did what?"

"One more thing. Your friend Ace may escape the room before it's destroyed. But the creature you are trying to save will not. Disconnecting her will, quite simply and quickly, kill her. So I ask you: Is that how you want your rescue mission to end?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Van Statten broke the moment of speechless horror that followed the man's revelation. No longer shouting, instead he spoke carefully, trying to make sense of this new enemy: "So you know Dr. Shaw. Does she know that you booby-trapped what was the pinnacle of her career?"

After an exasperated pause that communicated his distaste for speaking to Van Statten, the man answered, "Not as such. She was, perhaps, not entirely informed. She knew there were risks, and concentrated her efforts on minimizing them -- with the containment field that you destroyed."

Rose said, "Yeah, but the containment didn't really do anything except hide this from the outside world, am I right? So why should I believe you when you say taking the next step will be so dangerous?"

"Because I'm telling you the truth. I knew that if this got too far out of my hands, I would want it destroyed."

"Not _it_. _Her_. It's a woman you've imprisoned, and now you'll add murder to that crime."

"But it's not a woman. It's not human. Despite its appearance, don't be fooled -- it's alien. And isn't that what Torchwood does? Make use of the alien for the benefit of humanity? That's all that is being done here. And don't tell me that Torchwood only confiscates technology, not living beings. You and I both know better."

"We're not like that anymore, not since the People's …"

"…Republic, yes, I've heard the propaganda. Your capacity for self-delusion is really quite astonishing, Rose. Now then, you have to decide if rescuing this creature is worth killing it."

"Ace, are you hearing this?"

"Yeah, every word." In the monitors, Rose could see Ace still standing face to face with the immobile "alien," if that's what the entrapped woman was. Ace asked, "Do you believe him? He could be making it up to get us to back off."

"I … I don't know why, but I don't think he's lying. We have to assume he's not, don't we?"

"Maybe we don't have to do anything right away. Maybe we can find a way to free her without killing her."

"Listen to her, Rose." It was him again.

"Shut up. And don't call me that."

Ace addressed the interloper for the first time: "You're wrong, you know -- it's not really down to Rose, in the end, is it? It's down to me -- me and her." She nodded toward the figure.

"Oh yes, I can see how you would grasp the nuances of the situation," he replied. "One of Van Statten's mindless hirelings. Let me guess: You've spent your life fleeing from a criminal background. Did Van Statten know? Tell me, did he hire you for knowledge of explosives?"

Ace ignored his needling. "Rose, tell Van Statten to order an evacuation of the base. This guy said we get a half hour. I reckon he wouldn't have let that slip if it wasn't true, if we didn't have the time."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No. I don't know what I'm going to do. But let's get this started, just in case."

Rose turned to Van Statten. "Give the evacuation order."

"Are you insane? Haven't you listened to what that guy is saying? You can't shut the project down. Look, I'm sure we can work something out. Figure out the damage this guy and Shaw have done…"

Pete stepped forward with the gun. "Maybe. In the meantime, order the evacuation."

Greatly disgruntled, Van Statten sat at the computer again, and under Pete's watchful eye, he tapped away, until they heard a wailing alarm in the corridors. Van Statten layered the din with his own voice over loudspeakers echoing through the base: "All personnel are to leave the base immediately. Everybody -- get out."

The alarm did not sound in the lab itself, nor in the inner room: Rose could hear it only faintly echoing across the line. It continued to blare as Van Statten stood aside again with a surly look at the Tylers.

Ace was now prowling, hunting for something. "There we go," she said, stopping and shoving aside a set of shelves. "I knew from guarding the front door that there had to be another way in, probably one only Van Statten and Dr. Shaw knew about."

"You'll find it won't open," the man's voice said. "Whatever Mickey can do to unlock it, I can re-lock it. I can keep that up for quite some time."

"Yeah. The thing is, you guessed right about me. Your computer locks? Nothing a good old-fashioned explosive won't beat."

"Such finesse."

"Whatever works."

"Face it," Rose said. "No matter what we do, whether we wait or not, you've lost."

"And you, Rose Tyler. You're as much of a disgrace. Utterly ignorant of the forces you're dealing with, and yet you go blundering in all the same."

"You're losing your temper. Try to accept your defeat with a little grace."

"Unlike you, I do not relish the destruction your delinquent friend is contemplating."

"No, you just coldly set the stage for it, didn't you?"

Van Statten leaned in. "McShane, just stop and think what you're doing. Let's talk it over, look at other options. I swear, I had no idea it had got this far and I want to fix it."

"I'm not negotiating with you. You knew exactly what was in this room. You just want to stop your base from becoming a pile of rubble. So, Rose, you're the alien expert. What would your friend say?"

"I think he would say … that this isn't living."

The man's voice returned with a warning: "Neither of you knows what you're --"

"You don't get a say in this either!" Ace said. She stopped in front of the captive, and her words became a plea: "I wish you could tell me. What should I do?"

Only the muffled sound of the continuing alarm could be heard. Ace reached out and put her hand on the woman's arm, searching the other's eyes, for permission, for absolution … until she sighed, evidently not finding what she had hoped for.

She had begun to turn away, when she was arrested by a choked, rusty voice.

"Dorothy…"

Ace grasped the woman's arm again, but she said no more. But it was enough for Ace.

"The evacuation is underway?"

"Yeah," Rose said.

"Good. Let's do this."

Her qualms dissipated, indecision flown, Ace began to move with purpose. She upended a long table, sending its contents clattering to the floor, and raised it on end to create a shield. Then she dashed out from behind it to the computer that Mickey had pointed out, crouched down in front of it, and after placing the small canister she produced from her pocket, she scurried back behind the table.

When the explosion came, the makeshift shield protected the two women from pelting pieces of the console, but not from the charges of energy that crackled across the cables to its source -- the woman, who convulsed and cried out in pain. The cables snapped off her as she fell to the floor.

Ace seized her, and pulled her away from the still sparking machinery. "I've got you. I've got you. You're free."

Rose stepped closer to the monitors. "How is she?"

"Her eyes are opening." Then in a gentle voice: "Can you hear me?"

Rose, Pete, even Van Statten -- maybe even the stranger listening in -- held their breath.

When the woman spoke for the second time, her voice was weak and dazed. She repeated the same name, the one that was inexplicable to Rose: "Dorothy?"

But it meant something to Ace. "Yeah, that's me."

She tried to sit up and look around, before slumping back to the floor. "Where's the doctor?"

At those words Rose's heart began a sudden thudding, while Ace, oblivious, said, "We'll get you a doctor. Okay? Stay with me. Don't … Oh God, Rose, she's dying. He was right. I killed her."

A light around the woman glowed, then faded.

"You haven't," Rose said. "You haven't. She's going to be all right."

"Did you see that?" Pete asked. "That glowing. What's happening?"

Tears of triumph threatened to choke Rose. "She's regenerating. That's the energy you were using, Mister Whoever-you-are. What that means is you were wrong. She's not going to die."

He did not answer. Was he still there?

Rose heard Ace's sharp intake of breath, and she could see light like veins flare through the woman's skin.

"Ace, get away!"

"I can't leave her like this!"

"No, don't leave her, just --"

This time there was an eruption of light and Ace yelped and stumbled back.

Rose was watching a scene from her memory, replayed with new actors: As Ace gaped in wonder, the woman changed, the blaze resolving into someone a little smaller, her hair still dark, but longer -- those were all the differences that Rose could tell from the monitor's view of the dark room.

When it was over, the woman did not speak or spring to life as the Doctor had. She lay still, as Ace crawled back over.

"It's a different person."

"No, she's the same," Rose assured Ace. "I've seen this before. 'A way of cheating death,' he called it. But you've got to get moving. Is she --"

The woman groaned and pushed herself into a sitting position. "That was … dreadful." She stood, swaying, and, as Ace scrambled to support her, the woman looked about, frowned, and added in a stronger voice, "We've got to get out of here."

"Yeah, uh, we're a bit locked in, but I can fix that." Ace positioned the woman next to a table for support, turned her attentions to the secret back door, laying another explosive. "Take cover!" she yelled, and pulled her charge behind the table shield again.

Another explosion, and the secret door swung off its hinges.

The woman was distracted but calm, studying the maze of cables and sparks that had once been her prison. "I don't think this is entirely stable."

"That's why we've got to go. The man who designed it said it's going to blow in -- what, about twenty minutes now?"

"Did he say that? I should give it forty minutes at least," she sniffed. "All the same, we should go, Dorothy. I can't stop it from here."

"Er, right. Since you know my name -- which is great -- do you mind telling me yours?"

"Ah. That's right, you wouldn't recognize me. It's Romana."

Ace looked blank, but oddly enough, the woman seemed to expect recognition.

"From Gallifrey, the Doctor's friend … You don't know him either, do you? Interesting." She started over: "My name is Romana. Shall we go?" She swayed again, and Ace caught her arm.

Rose wanted to cry out:_ Tell her I know her friend_. But sense told her it was not important just now. "What's outside the door, Ace? Is it a way out?"

Ace peered into the darkness. "It's a stairwell, going up, and that's good enough for me."

As Ace lent an arm of support to Romana, Rose asked, "Mickey, any way to plot where they're going?"

"Yeah, hold on, I'm looking."

"Or I could just tell them," Van Statten interjected.

Rose rounded on him. "You're going to help us now?"

"I heard that woman say she could stop this base from imploding. Let's get her up here now. Does _she_ agree to help?"

"Yes" was the answer when Ace relayed the question to Romana.

"Okay, tell them where to go." As a quick afterthought, Rose added, "All the same, Mickey, keep looking and make sure he's directing them right."

* * *

Now it was Rose's turn to pace in the background with Pete. The inner room emptied, Ace and Romana were no longer visible on the monitors, only audible through Ace's headset.

"Who is that woman?" Pete asked his daughter. "You know her?"

"No. But obviously she knows the Doctor. And she's one of his people. I told you he changed -- that's how he did it."

"You said all his people were dead."

"He thought so. But all the Daleks were supposed to be dead, too."

She was interrupted by an outburst from Van Statten: "Look, you have got to move faster!"

"Maybe she'd be able to move faster if she hadn't been crippled by two years of imprisonment," Rose snapped.

He ignored her. "You got four more flights to go. When you get out, you'll be at the end of a wide corridor. It's long -- get to the end of it, there's a freight elevator. Take that to the lab floor. You know where you're going from there? You are an employee, after all. Though not for long."

"I don't think Ace is going to _want_ to work here anymore," Pete said.

Van Statten scowled, drumming his fingers on the table and checking the monitors, where the tendrils of light that sparked across the machinery were growing brighter and more constant.

The three in the lab were startled by a pounding on the door.

"Rose! Rose, are you in there?"

"Who is it?"

"Kevin!"

She had forgotten about him, once it had become clear that he had not been the one obstructing Mickey. She unlocked the door and he stumbled in. "Why haven't you evacuated?"

"Dr. Shaw made me stay with her, in case I could help her restore the system. I wouldn't do that, but I figured I could keep an eye on her, or do what she said except do it wrong, sabotage her, you know?" Rose felt a twinge of guilt at blaming him for the computer problems. He continued, "But then she got a call. Just minutes ago. She said, 'I know where they're going,' and grabbed a guard and headed in. I followed, but then ran off to warn you."

"Show me where she's going. Dad, come on."

"What about Van Statten?"

"We don't need him anymore."

They tore off toward the freight elevator, with Kevin leading, but just barely -- he could not go fast enough for Rose. There was the anxious wait for the lift to arrive, then after boarding it, its excruciatingly slow descent …

Finally it jolted to a stop, and Rose hauled the door back. Ace and Romana were in view, lurching toward the lift. Romana was struggling, but at least there was no Dr. Shaw in sight.

"Nice to have a welcoming party!" Ace called out, grinning, as Pete ran up to assist them.

Back to the lift, the metal bars of the door were pulled shut, and they were on their way up again. Romana leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. Getting a first good look, Rose saw that Van Statten and Dr. Shaw had dressed Romana in loose white clothing resembling medical scrubs, and she was barefoot. She was pale and haggard, her brown hair damp with sweat.

"How's she doing?" Rose whispered to Ace.

It was Romana who answered, without opening her eyes. "I'm fine. Just resting until I have to start running again."

"We're almost there," Ace said. "The lab isn't far -- that's where we're headed."

But when Pete pulled back the gate once more, they saw they were headed nowhere: Blocking their way was Dr. Shaw, accompanied by two guards pointing rifles at the lift's passengers.

"All the conspirators, caught in a box," Dr. Shaw said. "Don't try and go for that gun, Mr. Tyler. I don't want a bloodbath here. I just want to claim what's mine."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"What's yours?" Ace retorted. "You mean her?" She had again lent a shoulder of support to Romana, who was unreadable as she watched Dr. Shaw.

"I have worked too long and too hard for this project. We can take the alien, stabilize its condition at the emergency generator in the converter station. We may yet be able to salvage what you've tried to destroy."

"What we've destroyed," Rose said, "was the enslavement of a woman --"

"An alien. She's not human."

"It doesn't matter!"

"It most certainly does. I worked for UNIT for more than a decade. How many friendly aliens did we encounter? Almost none. How many were here to exploit this planet and its people? Many, many more. And when just such an alien killed my husband, I grew to see that people like Van Statten, agencies like Torchwood, had the more realistic approach: Any alien material that arrives here is fodder for human defense and advancement. Guards--"

"Who's your accomplice?" Rose demanded. "I've talked to him, he set this all up to self-destruct, did you know that?"

Dr. Shaw did not rise to the bait, raising her voice above Rose's. "Guards, take them into custody."

One made a move, but hesitated when his compatriot raised a restraining hand and spoke into his headset: "Yes, sir … Of course, sir, I understand."

He turned his rifle on Dr. Shaw. "Sorry, ma'am. That was Mr. Van Statten." (At these words the other guard immediately turned on her as well.) "He ordered us to take _you_ into custody, and allow these people to return to the lab."

When no one moved at once, he barked at the group in the lift: "Now! Get to it!"

He then clapped handcuffs on Dr. Shaw, whose fury was cracking through her cold dignity, while her would-be hostages hurried for the lab that had been her domain.

Once there, Kevin showed Romana over to the computer, but with only the merest attempt at orientation on his part, she ignored him and set to work. Rose, meanwhile, checked in with Mickey.

"You're all right!" he cried. "I just heard a lot of shouting and then nothing. I figured I would have at least heard an explosion, or lost the line."

"Hear anything more from our friend?"

"No, not a peep."

"Can you tell if he's interfering with Romana?"

Before he could even check, the woman in question slid her chair back from the computer console. "Done," she announced.

On the bank of monitors, the last lights flickered and died. The inner room where Romana had been held prisoner went to black. A sole monitor showed the converter station, where guards muttered to each other and peered uncertainly into the distance, toward the evacuated base.

Kevin stepped up to Romana. "May I?" At her assent, he set to work himself. The first ghost of a smile crossed her face as she watched, evidently understanding what he was doing. When the screen of the computer looked remarkably scrambled, Kevin looked up proudly. "Sabotage. That should take a while to fix before Mr. Van Statten can get this place up and running again."

* * *

Romana stepped out first into the glare of the sun, with Ace close behind, tailing her, as if in fear she might topple over at any moment. Not without reason – Romana was still pale and haggard, was still unsteady on her feet. But she took a deep breath of desert air, again that near-smile playing on her lips.

The grounds around the base were swarming with aimless evacuated employees, amid them police cars and a fire engine. Van Statten was holding court with police officers and, already, a reporter.

"I'll go listen in," Pete said.

Romana squinted into the sky, where Van Statten's zeppelin was tethered, and another zeppelin approached. "How curious. This is Earth, isn't it?"

"Yes," Rose answered. "But not quite. It's sort of parallel. Parallel to the one you're probably used to?"

"Ah. Another universe. That would explain why Dorothy didn't know me." She addressed Ace. "My apologies. I mistook you for someone else. Another Dorothy – we had a mutual friend."

"The Doctor?" Rose ventured.

Romana raised her eyebrows. "Yes." She shook her head, as if to clear it. "He's not here then?"

"No, he isn't. Just us."

"No matter. You were enough. Especially Dorothy. Thank you for understanding what choice had to be made – you were right, I would rather have died than stay there. You could have been killed down there with me, but you didn't leave. Thank you."

Ace smiled awkwardly. "You're welcome. And call me Ace. My friends call me Ace."

Two helicopters were new arrivals to the chaotic scene, still too far to make out any markings. Pete was returning from where he had been hovering near the cluster around Van Statten.

"He's laying all the blame on Dr. Shaw."

Ace scoffed, "How can he think he'll get away with that? We're all witnesses, and Mickey too!"

"Yes, well, he pointed out Rose and Romana as two 'clients who were visiting at the time of this unfortunate incident.' I think he's counting on buying our silence, going along with that story."

"In exchange for what?" Ace asked.

"In exchange for not exposing Romana for who – sorry," he said to Romana, "but more to the point, for _what_ you are. He's already painting Dr. Shaw as a lunatic, should she try to claim you're anything but human." Pete sounded apologetic as he added, "It may be safer for you to go along with him."

"Maybe," Romana said, studying the helicopters that had landed. Rose saw the soldiers ducking out from them, and now she recognized the insignia. UNIT had arrived. And one of the men, a younger subordinate, had been ordered off in the direction of their little group huddled together near the entrance to the base.

"I'm the Torchwood representative," Rose said. "I'll talk to them."

"No. I will." Romana stood straighter, and with more physical assurance than she had yet shown that day, she marched up to meet the UNIT soldier. Hello, Sergeant" -- with a glance at his name badge -- "Harris."

"Captain Charles Harris, ma'am, with the United Nations Intelligence Task Force in Los Angeles. Would you be able to answer..."

"Captain Harris, my name is Romanadvoratrelundar, President of the High Council of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. You won't have heard of it. I have suffered at the hands of Van Statten and his associates, held prisoner and enslaved, as my rescuers here will attest. I want to speak to your commanding officer, and make a formal request for asylum."

* * *

Rose, Pete, Ace and Romana flew to Salt Lake City under UNIT's protection, in a zeppelin that the commanding officer, an American colonel, had called. Once on their way, Romana lay back in her seat and slept all the way.

"You'd think after being in something like a coma for two years, she'd want to stay awake," Pete said.

"That's the thing," Ace replied. "That would have been better, but I think she was conscious, at least for some of it. And standing. Can you imagine?"

"And she's just regenerated – again," Rose said, "after being in, I guess, a constant state of regeneration for months on end. Let her rest."

"Constant regeneration?" Ace asked.

Rose explained about the "pilot fish" that had come after the Doctor that Christmas, the ones drawn by the energy he was emanating, hoping to capture him and "run their batteries off me for years," he had said. "So Dr. Shaw – or whoever her accomplice is -- figured out they could do that. They captured Romana in her regeneration cycle, and kept it going. Put it to use," Rose told them.

Ace asked, "Could they do it to her again?"

"If they get her within the next day or so. But we won't let that happen."

Captain Harris was their escort, and he was curious to hear about Dr. Elizabeth Shaw's part in everything they had uncovered. She and Van Statten were now both in the hands of the local police, to UNIT's chagrin.

"I knew Liz," Harris said. "Not well, but I worked with her a few times. With her and her husband, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart."

"She said he was killed," Pete said.

"In a battle with Sontarans. Yeah, I was there. I guess Liz didn't stay with UNIT much longer after that. I heard she went back to her research position at Cambridge. But then the next thing we know, she's working for Van Statten. Never dreamed she'd go for that. We've been keeping our eye on that guy for a while. Not really our mission, but somebody had to. So many politicians were bought and sold by him – I wonder if any prosecution will stick."

"Good thing you bring along some star witnesses," Rose said.

At Rose and Ace's urging, UNIT had brought Kevin along as well. On board the zeppelin, he had been keeping to himself, glumly staring out the window, until Ace roused him.

"Just thinking about what the hell I'm going to do now," he told her. "My career is screwed. How am I going to explain all this on my resume?"

"You could tell people that you did the right thing. They're going to understand. It's not your fault."

Far from a comfort, that only panicked him. "What if I get prosecuted? I didn't know what was really going on!"

Ace patted him on the shoulder. "They're not going after us peons. Not when they've got Van Statten and Shaw – much more dramatic, that."

"I can always go back to Minnesota," he sighed, and resumed his watch out the window.

Romana awoke for the arrival into Salt Lake City. Silent and observant as the city spread out before them, she only spoke once.

"There are areas that look decimated. What happened?"

"It happened all over," Ace answered. "A worldwide war with Cybermen. We won, mostly. Eventually. Did you have Cybermen, where you're from?"

Romana merely nodded.

She was so different from the Doctor, although Rose supposed she might not be quite herself right now. Whoever "herself" might be. Having just regenerated, Romana might not know. In any case, Rose had no reason to think that all Time Lords (or Ladies?) would be like the Doctor. They could be as different as humans were from one another.

This one had been president of the lot of them. Rose had met her share of political types in this strange deviation her life had taken after she had met the Doctor. Romana wasn't much like them either, but Rose could at least imagine her holding office. Rose could only laugh at the thought of the Doctor being president of anything.

And Romana had a name. She wasn't "the President" or some other title. Rose tucked that question away for a later time. They had landed.

Pete had called ahead to the hotel they had left when they went to Van Statten's base, reserving three luxury suites to accommodate not only himself and his daughter, but Ace and Romana as well.

Romana retreated to her bedroom and went back to sleep almost immediately. The following morning, Rose and Ace set out on a shopping expedition: Ace's quarters on the base had been near the site of explosions, and in any case, she had had no desire to descend back in there.

"Go with Rose," Pete told Ace. "Don't worry about the expense. It's the least we can do. And pick up some clothing for Romana too."

It took up a good portion of the day. When they returned in late afternoon, Ace headed off to their suite to change for dinner into one of her new outfits. (She had made do so far with an ill-fitting loan of clothes from Rose, rather than wear her uniform from Van Statten's base.)

Rose hesitated at Romana's door, then knocked.

"Come in!"

Rose was heartened to hear an alert voice, and she entered, bags offered in front of her. "We -- Ace and me -- picked out some clothes for you. I hope we did okay."

Romana had been president. Better to aim for tame and conservative, Rose and Ace had reckoned. Nothing too eccentric.

"Thank you so much," Romana said, taking the bags and eagerly looking into them. She pulled out a dress. "That's lovely." A millisecond hesitation told Rose that it was nothing Romana would have chosen for herself, but she was nevertheless touched and grateful. Her smile -- the first full one Rose had seen from her -- was genuine.

"You seem to be feeling much better."

"Yes, absolutely. I don't recall the regeneration process being nearly so taxing in the past, but I feel almost entirely recovered. And this --" She inspected herself in a mirror. "I can live with it. I shall have to."

"Are you hungry? Ace has gone to her room to change, then we were planning on meeting up with my dad at the hotel's restaurant. Don't worry about the cost. Dad's taking care of it. We want to help."

"That sounds lovely. Thank you."

"Great," Rose said, with an unsure move toward the door. But Romana resumed talking.

"I understand, then, that you're one of those humans who have traveled with the Doctor?"

"Yeah."

"And for your pains, you ended up stuck in the wrong universe?"

"It was a bit more complicated than that."

"It always is. I know. I traveled with him as well. And, as it happens, parted ways with him in another universe as well. Not this one."

"He left you behind?"

"Left me? No, I left him."

"Oh…" That hadn't occurred to Rose. Of the Doctor's other companions, she had only ever met Sarah Jane Smith, who had not chosen to leave him any more than Rose had. "But you made it back from this other universe?"

"Eventually, yes."

"But that was before --" Rose stopped. She hadn't intended on broaching this subject – the Time War -- as soon as Romana woke up.

"-- before Gallifrey was destroyed," Romana said. "I've known all this time what must have happened. All the time they had me in that room, there was not much else to think about. I knew what the Doctor was planning to do. More than that -- I sanctioned it. We knew the consequences if it went wrong. And when I was ripped from my TARDIS, thrown into the vortex, I knew in that second that I had made the wrong choice. I was president; it was ultimately my responsibility. I should have told him no. I let myself be blinded by my trust in him."

It was all Rose could offer: "The Daleks were destroyed too … most of them."

"Most?"

"Some survived. And created new Daleks but … The Time Lords, though -- the Doctor didn't believe there were any survivors. He said he'd know if there were, but here you are! Who knows who else is out there?"

"Yes, about that … Your father lent me his computer" – Romana gestured toward a laptop Rose now noticed sitting on a table – "and I was analyzing the data Van Statten gave you. I contacted your friend Mickey; he was very helpful. That containment field was quite remarkable. It seems as though it was only intended to encase me. But its effects were so strong that it took in the whole base – and so you had your problems getting any readings or communication in or out. But what was notable about it is that it seemed designed to dampen not only the energy readings, but any telepathic field as well."

"Like someone knew that other Time Lords might be able to find you here?"

"Exactly." They pondered that for a moment, then Romana said, "You said you met Dr. Shaw's accomplice on the outside, the one who claimed to have orchestrated the whole project?"

"Met him here at this very hotel. Doubt he's here now, but UNIT's been looking into it, based on my description. Not a very good description either. I only met him in passing, and it wasn't too well-lit in that ballroom. It already seems like ages ago. But we're going to find him."

"Whoever he is, he's got a lot to answer for." That was Ace, speaking from the door.

"Whoever he is," Romana said, "clearly he's very intelligent. And probably dangerous. Hello, Ace."

"Good to see you up and about. Like the clothes?"

"Very much, thank you." (Romana hadn't looked at anything more than that first dress.)

"I don't care how dangerous this guy is," Ace said. "If we're going to bring the bastard down, I want to be a part of it."

"I hope that you can be. I spoke to Captain Harris, and offered my services to UNIT, as their scientific advisor. It was a position held by the Doctor at one time in your universe, Rose, before I met him. Surely I can do the job at least as well as he had done."

"About this Doctor," Ace said. "Who is he, and why did you think I would know him?" She turned to Rose. "The Doctor was your alien friend, have I guessed that right?"

"He has a habit of befriending anyone willing to travel along with him in time and space." Romana smiled as she amended herself: "Anyone with the spirit and daring to do so. And in another universe, a one parallel to this, the Doctor met a girl called Ace. She was quite young when they met, as I understand it, and she traveled with him for a long time, before she struck out on her own. She visited Gallifrey – my home planet, and the Doctor's."

"Somewhere out there, someone just like me got to travel the stars." Ace's smile had a twinge of melancholy, or envy, but she said, "Good for her."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The American authorities were happy to get their hands on Van Statten for something, anything. But it was finally determined that Dr. Shaw's status as a British citizen put her in international hands, and she was turned over to UNIT, who were holding her temporarily at makeshift headquarters commandeered from a hotel near the Tylers' in Salt Lake City.

Where she would go next was not yet decided, and the day before Rose was to fly home, the order came from Torchwood: "Go interrogate her. Find out whatever you can about her accomplice."

The British contingent of UNIT might have balked at letting Torchwood encroach on their territory, but Captain Harris welcomed Rose, cheerfully heedless of any rivalry and happy to see that Romana and Ace had come along. "Even though you're _leaving_ us," he emphasized to Romana. To Rose and Ace he explained, "I understand you two going home, England's where you're from, but Romana's not from England, anymore than she's from the U.S., so why not stay with us?"

"It is awful of me, I know, after all you've done. But as none of this world is home to me, I can only choose to go with what is marginally familiar. And past experience has had me knowing the English better than any other humans, I'm afraid. But if you ever need my help, please don't hesitate to contact me."

"All right, all right," the captain said amiably. "And I looked into that matter you asked me about, and yes, UNIT is willing to employ an assistant for you, and the name you put forward was enthusiastically accepted." He beamed significantly at Ace, who then noticed Romana looking at her too.

"Me?"

"I took the liberty," Romana said. "You are out of work, thanks to me, and I would be grateful for the help. Do you accept?"

"I don't know why you think I'm qualified …"

Captain Harris said, "Seems to me you proved yourself last weekend."

"Absolutely," Romana said. "And while I do not wish you to think I view you as a mere copy of the Dorothy McShane I once knew; I know you are your own person -- but I did know her, and what I knew of her tells me that you are capable of things you can't imagine. You need only be given the chance."

Only one hesitation, directed at Captain Harris with narrowed eyes: "Do I have to join the army?"

He laughed. "Only if you want to."

She grinned. "I don't, no offense. Don't think I'd be suited, especially not after playing pretend soldier under Van Statten. All right then, I accept."

* * *

"Er, another thing," Ace said as they walked along. "My motorbike is stuck in Gold Hill, parked out back of a bar called the Blue Moon Cantina. Can UNIT get that for me?" 

"Don't see why not," said Captain Harris, who was leading the three women to the room where UNIT was holding Elizabeth Shaw.

Ace took it a step further. "And get it to England for me? Since I'm relocating for the job and all?"

"Well… That's not going to be up to me to authorize. I'll put in a word for you, though."

As they continued along, he updated them on Kevin's status. UNIT had put him up in this hotel, to keep him near for questioning -- "Not as a suspect!" the captain said they had to keep reassuring them. As soon as UNIT was satisfied, he fled to Minneapolis.

"Without saying good-bye!" Rose said, taking the tiniest bit of offense. She could see Ace looked similarly affronted; Romana was evidently indifferent. He had helped in her rescue, of course, but it was true that he had long collaborated in her imprisonment. If she bore Kevin no ill will, it was understandable if she had no fondness for him either.

As for more culpable parties, they had arrived at Dr. Shaw's room.

"How's the prisoner, corporal?" Captain Harris asked the young man stationed outside the door, an incongruous uniformed figure in the sedate quiet of the hotel corridor.

"No trouble, sir." But his brow fleetingly furrowed.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, sir. It's just … I'm just not used to holding old ladies prisoner. Can't help but feel kind of bad."

The guard's eyes followed as Rose, Ace and Captain Harris all looked to Romana, who smiled pleasantly and said, "Yes, I can imagine that must be difficult for her."

As Captain Harris unlocked the door to the cell, the corporal said apologetically, "I'm sure whatever she did, she deserves to be here, sir."

"That she does," the captain replied.

Dr. Shaw, sitting back on the bed, looked up from a newspaper as Rose entered first. The room was small and stripped of amenities like a television or phone. Yet for all the corporal's qualms, Rose couldn't help but feel Dr. Shaw was unfairly comfortable, considering what she had put Romana through.

As Romana stepped in, a shadow of recoil crossed Dr. Shaw's face -- whether it was a flush of loathing for an alien and a stab of guilt at the sight of her victim, Rose could not tell.

Dr. Shaw's manner was as calm as ever, though. "Captain Harris said you were coming, Miss Tyler, though I was not expecting an entourage."

"We're here to talk to you about your accomplice."

"As I informed the captain, I am not telling you anything."

"You're protecting him?"

"It simply seems in my best interest to hold on to whatever advantage I have. I want to be extradited back to my own country and engage the services of a solicitor before I share any information."

Ace said with disgust, "It's not out of loyalty to your partner, then. You just want to strike a deal."

"If it comes to that, yes. It may not, and then I can remain loyal, as you say."

Captain Harris snorted. "Liz thinks that she may not be charged at all, because no humans were hurt. Well, don't worry, we'll find something to pin on you."

They heard the door open; the corporal poked his head in. "Captain, can you come out here for a sec? It's Sergeant Lutz. She says it's urgent."

"Okay." Captain Harris nodded to the three women. "Excuse me. Call us back in if you need anything."

Dr. Shaw watched him go with curiosity. As the door closed, Romana spoke for the first time, musing, "What I find curious is that you and your accomplice were able to do what you did at all. There are races in the galaxy that could have detected the energy of a regenerating Time Lord and preyed on it. But humans? Humans of this age? I wouldn't think you capable of it."

"You underestimate us."

"Or you underestimate him. You are so concerned about defending humanity against the alien horde. This man -- or whatever he is -- could be extremely dangerous, a menace to this planet all on his own. And you were naive enough to let him use you." With a sudden, winning smile that put Rose powerfully in mind of the Doctor, Romana added, "I could be mistaken, of course. Though very often, I'm not."

Captain Harris opened the door and held it open. "Sorry, I'm going to have to interrupt this. I need to talk to all three of you."

Dr. Shaw settled back on her bed with her newspaper. "We can continue this interview later, I suppose."

Rose was reluctant to leave, but the captain's face was serious, and she could only trust that the matter was important. She followed Ace, who had moved to leave immediately. Romana gave a last appraisal of her former captor and walked away as well.

Captain Harris started marching them down the hall, without another word to the corporal on guard, barely pausing to introduce another uniformed stranger as Sergeant Alison Lutz.

"What's this all about?" Romana asked.

He held up a small disk and waved it. "This. Lutz says it has a video file of ... Tell them what you told me, Sergeant."

"I've been acting as liaison with the federal marshal who took over in Utah. They've been working over Van Statten's base, but had only two guards on that secondary station. There wasn't much there -- so they thought. Then sometime last night, it was broken into -- or out of. Turns out there was a hidden room underneath, through a well-camouflaged trapdoor. The feds never knew it was there until this morning, when guards came to relieve the ones there. They found one man dead, one unconscious, and that trapdoor opened and the room below cleared out. Whatever was important there, it's gone now."

They had reached Captain Harris's office, and he set to cueing up the video to play.

Sergeant Lutz explained, "The intruder disabled the cameras, but not before we got a clear view of his face."

Rose said, "And you want me to see if he's the man from the ballroom?"

"That's right," the captain said. "Of course, if Ace or Romana can tell us anything too ... Are you ready?"

The image snapped to life on Captain Harris's computer screen, and Lutz hung back while the other four gathered round to watch.

At first they saw only an empty room, silent and dark, with outlines of dead machinery in the shadows. Then a male figure entered, unhurried, closing the door behind him.

"The guards were outside," Sergeant Lutz said. "Dead or unconscious by now."

Rose peered at the screen. "It could be him ... I can't see his face too well."

"You'll get a better view."

The man surveyed the room, spied the camera, and walked directly to it. Rose shivered: It felt as though he were looking directly into her eyes, again with the slight, mocking smile she remembered from the ballroom, remembered in his voice.

"It's him. The man from the --"

But Rose's words died, replaced by a horrid thudding in her chest as she watched him raise a hand ... and the screen went black.

"And that's all there is. Don't know how he did that," Lutz was saying. She sounded very far away. "As he was no longer concerned with keeping that room hidden, I don't think he's coming back."

"And he didn't leave anything of value," Captain Harris noted.

He may have said more, but Rose had stopped listening, staring at the blank screen, its last image imprinted on her mind: the stranger handily killing the camera, with the simple whirr of a sonic screwdriver.

_It couldn't be ... _She could not finish the thought, to add even the pronoun: _him_. Instead, she reassured herself: _He's another Time Lord. Yet another surviving Time Lord._

"Rose?" It was Ace. Turning to her, that Rose could do, but she avoided looking at Romana. Ace nodded toward Captain Harris.

"Do you want to go back to Shaw's room, get back to questioning her?" he asked, in a tone that suggested he was repeating himself.

"No, I ... Sorry, I'm not feeling too well. Do you mind if I just sit … ?"

"No problem -- take my office." He indicated a sofa. "Lutz and I need to go talk and then I have to go get yelled at by my superior for this damn business at the base. Doesn't matter that it's the feds' fault."

Once he and Sergeant Lutz left, Rose finally dared to meet Romana's eyes. Her expression was impassive, but Ace recognized something was wrong.

"What didn't I see in that video that you two did?"

"It's another Time Lord, right?" Rose asked -- begged -- Romana. "You all had sonic screwdrivers, yeah?"

"No. Just the Doctor. And then me, but I took the idea from him."

"From the Doctor," Ace clarified.

The vise around Rose's heart tightened at her words. Romana's silence was an agony as she moved over to the computer and restarted the video.

"Please," Rose said, "do you know who that is? Tell me who it is!"

Still Romana seemed lost in a reverie, her head tilted, studying the man.

"You two," Ace said, "you can't believe it's him, but it is, isn't it? And you know it!"

"No!" Rose said. "I don't know it, because it makes no sense. None of this makes sense, because the things that man has done -- he imprisoned Romana, he _killed_ that guard. The Doctor would never, _never_ … It's not him."

"It is."

Ace's skepticism might have faltered in the face of Rose's conviction, but those two words from Romana cut them both short.

Her impassivity was giving way to grim hurt and betrayal. "I know who this man is, though I never met him. The official story was that he died. Evidently not. I'm sorry, Rose, but it is, in essence, the Doctor. I doubt he'll answer to that, however. As I understand it, he called himself the Valeyard."

**-End of Part 1-**

* * *

_Author's Note_: 

And there we have it – Mystery Man revealed, but how will they deal with him? With that cliffhanger, I have to admit that the break before Part 2 starts may take longer than usual (and I know I'm slow enough with the updates already). A couple of writing projects for work, alas, have to take precedence, what with them giving me a paycheck and all! But if you've read this far, I do hope you'll come back when I update; the story will not be abandoned, I promise.

In the meantime, any feedback is greatly appreciated, especially if you have any questions or points of confusion, so that I can make sure I cover everything that needs to be resolved in Part 2.

Finally, another huge thanks to **Belphoebe**, my Brit-picking beta reader!


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